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[Got Distracted]

Ok---

I was so tired after my interview...  I completely overlooked sending a thank you note out the next day (or the next...)  Now it is Monday already!  My interview was Thursday...  They were really nice and I really enjoyed meeting with them.  So I do really want to thank them for the experience (and it was my first interview!)

So - is it ok to send out an email today?  Or should I still send a card and just accept it won't get there as soon as I would have liked.  And do you send one card for the department or a seperate one for each person???

Thank you fr the help!  (Right away!!!)

[anon]

I would go with the paper note.  Those are supposed to arrive later.

[email okay]

I sent emails to everyone who interviewed me, gave me a tour, and the secretary, and I tried to say something specific in each one.  I have read posts from others here that they didn't know where to send their emails.  I don't know how someone can get this far in academia without the ability to sleuth out those email addresses.  They worked fine.  Say thank you, keep it short, and good luck.

[anon]

But did you send the email right away or did you wait half a week?  And if you waited, did you get the job?

[Search Committee Member]

Send the e-mail now. Don't apologize for being late. (We're all grading papers this time of semester.) But get it there. Though we don't drop people who don't send thank-yous, and we don't really care about whether the note is personal or not, what it has to say is "I'm very interested in the job" (in whatever way you can say that with some cool). Otherwise we may suspect you looked and decided to go with the other place where you'd interviewed earlier, or that you couldn't imagine living here, or whatever, when someone equally good (there's never any "best" -- it's always a matter of "some strong points, some weaker" for each candidate) is chomping at the bit to be in our place. We may well be meeting today to rank our candidates. Send it.

[bec]

Normally, I don't think that a thank you note is necessary to thank an institution for agreeing to interview you. You're excellent, dammit, and they should thank you for agreeing to interview there.

But, yes, I agree that you should send a note, not so much for thank-you purposes, but to let them know you're interested. I can imagine chat around the search committee table, "Yes, I think she's still interested - I got an e-mail today that said she was impressed with our graduate funding/research facilities/excellent campus pub."

I think I'm a polite person, but a note should indicate "I would like to contribute to your department" rather than "Thank you for considering little ol' me for your department."

[anon two]

Today is absolutely fine.
Email those you had substantive interactions with, i.e. dept chair, committee chair, dinner host, administrative support.
This will not make or break your chances.

[Got Distracted]

Thanks for the great ideas...

I did go ahead and email the faculty and provost...  I know it won't make that much difference on the job - but I wanted to let them know they did a great job.  After hearing so many horror stories my first interview experience was great.  I really enjoyed it...

[dubliners099]

Just a thought. I once went into the office of a woman I'd interviewed with and there on her bulletin board was my original thank-you note! (I got the part-time job.) Another time, I saw one of my thank-you notes sitting on a desk behind an administrator. And once an adminstrator actually mentioned my thank-you to me in later correspondance.

I actually take down the names of the committee and send them thank-you notes after a phone interview. I'm not saying it makes a difference, but I have been interviewed in-person more than a few times!

Yes, e-mail is quick... but a nice understated thank-you note by snail mail can leave a very nice impression. Heck, I've had bad interviews and thought it was easily worth 37 cents. Also gives me a sense of completion.

I do recommend a very subtle card--nothing with huge cartoonish writing on the front, pictures of kittens, whatever. Crane makes a nice folded card that has no visuals--is on nice laid finish with a deckled edge.

[%sig%]

[newdoc6969]

What is the protocol after conducting phone interviews? Should we email thank you notes after these interviews as well?

[%sig%]

[five]

I sent email thank you notes after phone interviews, and either email or paper notes following campus visits.  I actually prefer sending email notes because it opens up a possible conversation, whereas the paper kind aren't usually responded to.  The more you talk to each other, the better chance you have of hitting it off or finding common ground, right?  Once, when the chair and his wife hosted dinner in their home, I found their mailing address online and mailed a personal thank you note to them both.  

I will note that I have not generally sent to everyone - usually 2-3 from phone interviews (the ones who did most of the talking or whose interests are more aligned with mine), and maybe 4-6 from campus visits.  On occasion, I have been able to send something of interest (eg, an article)  relating to something we discussed during my visit to someone following the interview.